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6 Sheets-Sheet 1.

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. A. -NOBLE 8u E. W. LLOYD.

BREEGH LOADING ORDNANGB.

Patented Dec. 25, 1894.

(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. NOBLE 8v E. W. LLOYD.

BRBEGH LOADING ORDNANGE.

No. 531,594. Patented Dee. 25, 94.

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A. NOBLE 8v E. W. LLOYD.

BREECH LOADING ORDNANCB. No. 531,594. Patented Dec. 25, 1894.

(No Model.) 6 sheets-sheet 5.

A. NOBLE 8v E. W. LLOYD.

BREEGH LOADING ORDNANGE. l No. 531,594. Patented Deo. 25, 1894.

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(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 6.

A. NOBLE 8v E. W. LLOYD. BREEGH LOADING ORDNANGE.

No. 531,594. Patented Deo. 25,1894.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW NOBLE AND EDWARD W. LLOYD, OE NEWcAsTLE-UPoN-TYNE, ENGLAND, AssIGNoRs 'ro THE SIR W. e..` ARMSTRONG, MITCHELL a oo.,

LIMITED, OF SAME PLACE.

-BREEcH-L'OADING ORDNANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. l531,594, dated December 25, 18.94.

Application tiled February 5,1894; Serial No. 499,144. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ANDREW NOBLE, manufacturing lengineer, Knight Commander of the Bath, late captain in the Royal Artillery, 5 residing at J esmond Dene House, Newcastleupon-Tyne, and EDWARD WILLIAM LLOYD, late commander in the Royal Navy, residing at Elswick Works, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, subjects of the Queen of Great Britain, to have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Breech-Loading Ordnance, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates tobreech loadi ng guns i havinga divided screw breech block, mounted r 5 upon a carrier arm, jointed to the breech of the gun and having also upon the carrier arm a sliding piece which on receiving movement from a hand lever or otherwise, imparts to the breech block the rotation required in locking zo and unlocking. Such breech mechanism is describedin the specitication of a patent granted in the United States of America to me, An-

drew Noble, and another dated the 7 th day of- March, 1893, No. 492,942.

By our present improvements we provide in such mechanism for the use of an obturating pad to prevent the escape of powder gases.

-When an Obturating pad is employed itis necessary that the breech block should travel 3e truly in an axial direction so long as the obturating pad is in the bore. We provide for this in a manner' we Will presently describe.

Our invention relates also to tiring mechanism for guns such as above described.

In the drawings annexed Figure l is a rear elevation of a gun with breech closing mechanism and firing mechanism in accordance with our invention. Some of the parts are broken away to more clearly show the mech- 4o anism. Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2, 2, in

Fig.1. Fig. 2a shows on an enlarged scale, the

details of the sliding block forming part of the breech block operating mechanism. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3, 3, in 4 5 Fig. l. In this figure the opening of the breech has commenced Fig. 3a is a detail view of part of the locking mechanism. Fig.

4 is a horizontal section showing the firing mechanism to a larger scale. Fig. 4 shows a 5o section ofthe firing mechanism on-the line aa of Fig. 4. Fig. 4b is a section through the firing mechanism on the line b--b of Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a detail'view of part of the tiring mechanism. Fig. 5 is a rear elevation and Fig. 6 is a plan and shows the application of 5 5 a worm and worm wheel'to actuate the breech mechanism. Figs. 7, 8 and 9 illustrate a modivtcation in the breech mechanism. Fig. 7 is a rear elevation. Fig. 8 is a section on lthe line 8, 8 in Fig. 7. Fig. 8 isa detail view of 6o the locking slide or safety device, and Fig. 9 isa section on the line 9, 9 in Fig. 7.

a. is the breech of the gun.

a.' is the divided screw thread cut in the breech. t f

b is the breech block havinga corresponding divided screw thread b' to engage with the thread in the breech. r

c is a pivot on whichsthe breech block is. carried. It forms a part of the carrienarm d 7o which is jointed to the breech of the gun by means of the hinge pin e.

f is the obturatiug pad. It rests against the fore end of the breech block and when the gun is fired is compressed between it and the 7 5 head g of the obturator. g' is the stem of the obturator. It passes through the pivot c.

h is a hand lever joined to the carrier arm.

It is connected by a link 1l with the sliding piece k on the carrier arm and it imparts to 8o the sliding piece a movement to and fro along the carrier arm. The slide k operates upon the breech block to move it as required.

In Fig. 2 the obturating pad 'is seen in the bore of the gun. In removing it from the bore 8 5 to the position in which it is seen in Fig. 3 it is necessary as before stated that the obturating pad should travel truly in a direction parallel to the axis of the gun; otherwisethe pad could not be withdrawn without damage. `9o Similarly in closing the breech it is necessary that the obturating pad in entering the bore should move truly in an axial direction. We provide for this by so mounting the breech block that it can move along its pivot c for 95 the distance required. To impart the requisite movements to the breech block the following arrangements are made: The sliding piece k on the carrier arm is furnished with a pin or projection 7c' which enters a groove in the roc face of thebreech block;r also there -is an inclined groove inthe top of the sliding piece k-and Athere -is a radial projection lconnected with the breech block entering this. groove. In opening t'he breech'the first movement ot the sliding'. ieee la along thefcarrierar'md by the action o the proj cction Icturns the breech blockbsuiciently to disengagel the screwv threads and'then the groove in the topof the sliding piece operates on the projection Z -to withdraw the' 'lzqreeeh block along the pivot.

. ing movements occur in the reverse order.

' Thebreechblock isv prevented from turning when ontof the gun by api-ejection d on *the carrier arm whichengages the flange v `of the breech block when the block is turned and isin its rearward position upon the pivot. When 'the breech block is inserted in the breech ,of thegun and is driven home its iiange a: is free to revolve in the space clear of the projection d. r

"The carrier arm is prevented from leavingl the rear face o f the gun until-the sliding piece k vreaches the end of its' travel for up to this time afprjection k on the sliding piece is engaged in a groove or guide at a upon the gun which causes the .sliding piece loto travel in a straight line across the breech end of thegun. A v e The carrier arm when it commences to retire from the, rear faceof the gun liberates a l spring catch m and allows it to engage withthe sliding piece k which is thus locked fast upon the carrier arm until afterlo'ading the arm is again returned toitsplace. The springcatch is shown in Figs. land 3*. When the breech block'is closed the catch or `bolt m is forced back against the pressure of the spring m and the lug m2 on the catch or bolt liesin` the groove .kx in the top of a sliding piece or. block lo but when th'e carrier arm is drawn away from the breech of the gun the bolt m.

k", andthe sliding piece k is held firmly.

When the mechanism is too large and heavy to be worked bya leveras hit can as is shown by Figs. 5 and 6 be worked by a hand whel A and axis A giving movement by means otv a worm and worm wheel to a pinion loose `on the joint pin of the carrier arm. This pinion engages with another toothed pinion or arc mounted upon the carrier-farm and replacing the hand lever..

In Figs. 7, 8 and 9 also a hand wheel and worm is employed to give motion to the breech mechanism. The worm actnates `a. pinion loose lon the hinge'pin e and` to an arm fast withthe-pinicn the linkis jointed. In other lrespects these figures show mechanism similar lo' that already described and they are lettered in accordance with the description already given. In each case when the breech is closed the joints of the link are so situated that .the mechanism is locked and the link cannot yield to any tendency the breech block v under the influence of the pressure to which it is exposed when the ldescribe the tiring the drawings and es-J tion, in the rear part of the breech block or in the stem g of theebturator, which may for this purpose be regarded as part of the breech block we provide a cylindrical cavity, being a continuation and enlargement of the vent n. This cavity receives within it a tubular or hollow bolt o containing a coiled spring p and a tiring pin whichthe spring presses forward.

The firing pin can move endwise within the bolt and thebolt within the cavity but neither is permitted to turn. At `thefore end of the bolt there is ascrew cap o with a hole in the center. This cap serves as a holder forv Y a flanged primer n. The primer is inserted through the hole inthe cap. IThe cap is then screwed on to the bolt'and the bolt is replaced in the cavity in the bre/ech block, from which it-is removed in order that the primer may be adjusted to it. The bolt o at its rear end is screwed into a socketq and on the exterior IOO of the socket piece thereis a segmental thread adapted to interlock with a corresponding thread within the mouth of the cavity in the breech block. The socket piece also has a vhandle q' upon it by which it can be turned .for locking and unlocking the bolt and for` other purposes hereinafter explained'.

When t-he socket piece q is turned it by meansof the screw thread within it imparts a short but powerful endwise movement to the bolt o which is useful in starting the wthdrawal of the primer case from the vent. The firing lpin consists of an outer tube r surrounding a rod s from which it is electrically insulated by an intermediate tube of vulcanite or like material t. It has an insulated handle s at its rear end and.\alateral arm s2 which .when in the tiring position places the insulated parts of the tiring pin in electrical connection with the firing circuit at u.

The socket piece at the rear end of the bolt TIO hasa projection q2 (Fig. 2) extending back from it and this isgreceived into a recess in The firing pin is then held back a short distance within the bolt so that when a primer is adjusted to the fore end of the bolt the nose of the firing pin is not in contact with it. When an electric primer is used as soon as the bolt o has' been replaced in the breech block and locked the firing pin is allowed to pass for-ward again and the coiled spring p then presses its nose into good electrical contact with the base of the primer.

When a percussion primer is employed a sear hook o which is mounted upon the carrierarm is allowed to engage a projection-'r' on the tiring pin and retain it until it is released bypulling a lanyard. The sear hook U operates to prevent the firing pin from passing forward with the breech block b when in the closing of the breech the breech block is made to slide along its pivot c by the operation of' the inclined groove upon the upper surface of the sliding piece 7c on the carrier arm as already explained. e

As a safety device we sometimes employ a locking slide w (Fig. 8) lying in a recess in the pivot c on which the breech block is carried. On the locking slide there is a projection w entering into a segmental groove within the breech block and this groove is of such a form thatthe locking slide cannot go forward until the breech block is home. At other times the rear end of the locking slide is in a position to prevent the forward movement of the firing pin.

1. The combination of parts consisting of the. screw breech block b mounted on the pivot c on which it can both turn and slide,

- pivots.

and the carrier arm d supporting the pivot and jointed to the breech of the gun.

2. The combination of the breech block,its pivot, the carrier arm to which the pivot is secured, the sliding piece lc, means for moving the sliding piece lo along the carrier arm, and connections between the `sliding piece and the breech block to move it along its 3. The combination of the gun, the breech block, its pivot, thecarrier arm to which the pivot is'secur'ed, the sliding piece k, connections between the sliding piece k and the breech block to operate it, and the spring bolt which locks the sliding piecefast with the carrier arm when said arm retires from the breechof the gun. l

4. The combination` of the gun, the breech block, its pivot, the carrier arm to which the pivot is secured, the sliding piece k connected with the breech block to operate it, and a guide on the gun for the sliding'piece k which prevents the carrier arm from leaving the breech of the gun until the unlocking movement of the slide is complete.

5. The combination of the gun, the breech conducting core and the primer in contact with the same.

6. Firing apparatus consisting of a hollow bolt to be inserted into a cavity in the breech closing appliance with means for preventing the bolt turning in the cavity; a socket piece screwed on the rear end of the bolt and having interrupted threads on its exterior serving to lock the bolt in the cavity provided to receive it; a cap screwing on to the fore end of the bolt to hold the primer in its place; a firing pin consisting of an insulated rod incased in a tube having a handle at its rear end; such firing pin being contained within the hollow bolt in which itis free to slide but restrained from turning; a coiled spring within the hollow bolt and around the firing pin which it presses forward; interlocking 'recesses and projections on the socket piece and the firing pin; circuit arrangements for electric firing; and releasing arrangements for percussion firing.

7. The safety appliance consisting ofalocking slide lying in a recess in the pivot piece and engaging with a controlling groove in the breech block; such locking slide abutting on the firing pinand only permitting it to ad vance when the breech block has been turned sulciently to lock it securelyin the gun'.

8. The combination of the gun, the breech block, a carrier arm, a pivot on the carrier arm about which the breech block is free to turn, a sliding piece mounted inthe carrier arm and connected with the breech block,- means for moving the sliding piece in the carrier arm transversely across the breech end of the gun, connections between the breech block, and the sliding piece to move the breech block backwardly from the gun, and mechanism for operating the carrier arm.

A. NOBLE. EDWARD W. LLOYD.

Witnesses:

T. PURvIs, W. J OGLE. 

